Growth not Regret

What does putting yourself out there feel like?

Scary. Nerve wracking. Terrifying.

There is a fine line between positive adrenaline (that feeling of nervous excitement and anticipation) and full throttle fear (heart pounding stress).

Before you “do it” - you don’t always know which one it will be.

You can be prepared and start off well - then stumble and suddenly free fall into panic.

Pulling back from the brink of panic only happens through practice. Deep breaths. Refocus. Reframe.

Once we’ve done it though (and survived) well - we now know we can. So the nerves subside. We may even start to enjoy it.

Growth is uncomfortable. Because we have never been there before. But with the courage to put ourselves out there and challenge our fears - we become more.

We even develop fear stamina - the ability to keep trying new things. It doesn’t mean the fear and nerves go away. They don’t. It means we get better at pushing through fear and doing it anyway. Learning. Expanding. Growing.

50 years on - I still get nervous. Anxious even. But my commitment to my values - around growth and possibility, help me to act anyway. My conviction and belief is stronger than my fear, so I feel the fear and do it anyway.

Last year was writing a book with personal stories - for the world to see. This year is key note speaking - about my purpose.

There is fear on 2 levels: doing something I’ve never done before that is very public (my fear highlights it could end in very public embarrassment) AND injecting me personally into both. My life. My beliefs. My stories.

For anyone to see. For anyone to judge.

It’s terrifying and transformational.

But oh so worth it.

Because it’s better to choose growth, than reminisce with regret.

That’s an even bigger fear, that you don’t want to get lost in. So don’t.